Actress Neve Campbell, The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie, dancer and member of the Order of Canada Margi Gillis, Alberta author and poet Sid Marty, writers Joseph Boyden and Michael Ondaatje, and 18 others, on Monday signed an open letter encouraging Canadians to ask themselves what kind of Canada they want to live in.

The letter was issued in support of Neil Young's "Honour the Treaties" tour, which ended in Calgary on Sunday, and that aimed to raise awareness of what Young calls violations of First Nations treaty rights by the federal government, and which raised awareness of what the rocker called the 'ugliness' of the Alberta oilsands. The tour raised more than half-a-million dollars, money which will go towards Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation's fight against oilsands expansion.

"The Federal Government's continued approval of new tar sands mines such as Shell's Jackpine mine despite the devastating environmental impacts and inadequate consultation with First Nations is insulting and unlawful," said Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam regarding the new support.

"We are encouraged and grateful for all the support we are receiving from across Canada. This is just the beginning."

On his Honour the Treaties tour, Neil Young is doing what poets do - forcing us to examine ourselves. This is hard enough on a personal level and it can be even more difficult when we are being asked to examine the direction in which our country is headed.

The time has come for Canada to decide if we want a future where First Nations rights and title are honoured, agreements with other countries to protect the climate are honoured, and our laws are not written by powerful oil companies. Or not.

Neil's tour, which also included Canadian jazz Singer Diana Krall has triggered the Prime Minister's Office and oil company executives. They have come out swinging because they know that this is a hard conversation and they might lose. But that should not stop the conversation from happening.

Instead of focusing on Neil Young's celebrity, Prime Minister Harper should inform Canadians how he plans to honour the treaties with First Nations. This means ensuring the water, land, air, and climate are protected so the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations and other First Nations communities be able to hunt, fish, gather plants and live off the land. Canada signed a treaty with them 114 years ago, and this must be honoured.

The world is watching as we decide who we will become. Will we disregard the treaties we have with First Nations? Will we continue to allow oil companies to persuade our government to gut laws, silence scientists, and disassemble civil society in order to allow reckless expansion of the oil sands?

We are proud to stand with Neil Young as he challenges us all to think about these larger, more profound and humane questions.

Now is the time for leadership and to honour promises that we have made, not personal attacks.

Story continues below slideshow

Close



Celebs Against The Oilsands

of





Diana Krall was the second act on Neil Young's Honour the Treaties tour.

Lead singer for the Tragically Hip

From Blue Rodeo

NEXT ----> Facts About The Oilsands

Fort McMurray, Alberta, has seen its population grow from 926 in 1951, to more than 60,000 today -- a growth rate of 70,000 per cent over 60 years. The city grew by 14,000 people, or 29 per cent, in just the 2006 to 2011 period.
Source: StatsCan

Whereas in Alberta in general there are approximately 99 to 104 men for every 100 women, in Fort McMurray, where male-dominated oil jobs dominate, that ratio is skewed well towards men. There are 110 to 140 men for every 100 women in Fort McMurray, depending on the neighbourhood.
Source: Kevin Correia
This caption has been corrected from an earlier version.

The average price of a two-bedroom apartment in April, 2011, was $2,152 -- comparable to major Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver. For those rates to be affordable, you'd need to earn at least $80,000 per year. But given that oil workers can earn as much as $120,000, that is, actually, affordable by Fort McMurray standards.
Source: Wood Buffalo Regional Municipality

Fort McMurray sits at the centre of what is now recognized as the third-largest proven supply of oil in the world. Alberta has 170.8 billion barrels of oil in the ground, about 12 per cent of the world's total. By comparison, Saudi Arabia has 260 billion barrels, and Venezuela 211 billion. The oil sands' share of that total continues to grow, and with it, Fort McMurray's importance to the industry. The city is expected to quadruple in size, to about 231,000, within 20 years.
Source: Government of Alberta

There are 140,000 people employed in Alberta's oil and gas extraction industry -- a very large number, considering the province's total population of 3.6 million. In all, energy counts for 23.4 per cent of Alberta's economy.
Source: Government of Alberta

Classified as a sub-Arctic zone, Fort McMurray is bitingly cold, even by Canadians' standards. The average night-time low in January is minus-24 Celsius, or minus-11 Fahrenheit, though the average daytime high in July does reach a decent 23 Celsius (73 Fahrenheit).
Source: The Weather Network

"I applaud Neil Young's efforts to raise awareness of these critical issues. Further expansion of tar sands operations is simply incompatible with our climate obligations and moral responsibilities," said Harvey in a press release.

But these celebs, academics and authors are not the first to put their influence behind Young's anti-oilsands fight.

Young's tour, which launched in Toronto just over a week ago and made its way west to Calgary on Sunday, has sparked some heated debate, with those supporting the aging musician saying the government has not addressed First Nations or environmental concerns, while those who oppose him accuse Young of basing his arguments on his celebrity rather than on facts.

The Athabasca Chipewyan claim that, depending on the time of the year, 80 per cent of their land is inaccessible to them due to oilsands development and charge that if growth in the region continues, Canada won't be able to meet its commitment of a 17% reduction of carbon pollution from 2005 levels by 2020.